CEO pay now 209 times more than average worker: Report

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International's CEO and chairman of the board Joseph Papa arrives for the company's AGM in Laval, Que., May 2, 2017. Papa is Canada's highest paid CEO, collecting $83,131,252 in 2016, according to a report. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

Canada’s 100 highest-paid CEOs netted 209 times more than the average worker made in 2016, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

The country’s highest 100 paid CEOs on the S&P/TSX Composite index now make, on average, $10.4 million — 209 times the average income of $49,738, up from 193 times more in 2015, said the report.

“Canada’s corporate executives were among the loudest critics of a new $15 minimum wage in provinces like Ontario and Alberta,” said David Macdonald, senior economist for the CCPA. “Meanwhile, the highest paid among them were raking in record-breaking earnings.”

“CEOs are making 316 times more than someone who makes $15 an hour,” he said. “If shareholders can afford this year’s CEO pay hike, they should absolutely be endorsing higher wages at the bottom as well.”